Adding to the din of rumors regarding an Apple-branded mobile payments solution, a report on Tuesday claims the Cupertino company is discussing a platform launch partnership with department store giant Nordstrom.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Bank Innovation reports Apple and Nordstrom are mulling a partnership supposedly related to an upcoming mobile-based payments system, which some industry insiders expect to roll out with the next-generation iPhone.

Of note, Nordstrom employees said the company upgraded its current iPod touch-based mobile point-of-sale hardware "a few weeks ago" with new features that support the "most recent iPhone" models. While the details are vague, the publication reportedly verified Nordstrom's new POS terminals as identical to EasyPay units used by the Apple Store.

Sources also claim Apple landed on Nordstrom after seeking out a launch partner with an established high-end brand and wide brick-and-mortar reach. The theory makes sense considering a new payments platform would need broad consumer adoption, which translates to wide availability and support, for any chance at success.

Nordstrom is just the latest company rumored to be in talks with Apple, as reports over the weekend claimed credit card firms American Express, Visa and Mastercard have all inked deals for the mobile platform.

Apple is expected to announce the next-generation "iPhone 6" lineup at a special event slated for Sept. 9. Unverified rumors and supposed parts leaks suggest the new handset will come with a near-field communications (NFC) module to facilitate touchless payments at compatible POS terminals.

Unfortunately I don't. It was reported during a live blog of Apple's earnings call in January. I don't pay much attention to how many units sold or income statement data or forward guidance, for example, during these calls. However, I do mostly focus on receiving information that are iTunes or music-related.

Unfortunately I don't. It was reported during a live blog of Apple's earnings call in January. I don't pay much attention to how many units sold or income statement data or forward guidance, for example, during these calls. However, I do mostly focus on receiving information that are iTunes or music-related.

That's why I think you may have misheard something. Historically, they rarely announce future plans.

Apple said they would launch a mobile payments system if they had 1 billion iTunes accounts. I think they made that statement in January.

Wrong. Yahoo! made that claim.

Originally Posted bySpamSandwich

Do you have a link for that?

Yep. Here’s Yahoo!’s claim and here’s the text of the earnings call where no one said that. When it tells you to sign up to read the rest of the pages, just append the new page number to the URL and read around the box (or disable the <div> with the Inspector, but you can read around it just fine).

Yep. Here’s Yahoo!’s claim and here’s the text of the earnings call where no one said that. When it tells you to sign up to read the rest of the pages, just append the new page number to the URL and read around the box (or disable the <div> with the Inspector, but you can read around it just fine).

First of all, you said January. This story is from April. Second, they are speculating about something that Tim never explicitly said. In other words, they don't know and they are making things up.

"Nothing specific to announce today but you can tell by looking at the demographics of our customers and the amount of commerce that goes through iOS devices versus the competition, there is a big opportunity on the platform. "

Thanks for reminding me! I was just trying to figure out the other day why the Seattle area here spawns the most sociopathic corporations in the world—PACCAR, Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon... (People try to keep adding Starbuck's but I need my Starbuck's!) I totally forgot about Nordstrom!

First of all, you said January. This story is from April. Second, they are speculating about something that Tim never explicitly said. In other words, they don't know and they are making things up.

The Yahoo article is not what I had read. I did find the Q1 transcripts(you linked to Q2) and the information in the Q&A surrounding mobile payments did appear familiar to me as the blogger was reporting it. Since it was not in the transcripts, I can only assume the blogger was trying to leak(or create a rumor) that Apple will launch a mobile payments system at 1 billion iTunes accounts (the statement was made in one simple sentence.)

From a marketing perspective, launching a mobile payment system at 1 billion iTunes accounts is better than launching at 900 million accounts.

2) If you aren't going to pull it out of your pocket then are you going to sit up on the counter so your iPhone can get close enough to the NFC sensor to create the secure loop?

3) If you're going to slide your hand in your pocket to initialize Touch ID to allow the purchase to be made then just take the damn thing out of your pocket.

Actually it is very important that you do not have to take the iPhone out of your pocket. All you will have to touch will be the iWatch. Of course the iWatch and the iPhone will have been synched together when you were dressing in the morning. So a confirmation press on the iWatch is equivalent to a confirmation press on the iPhone.

Apple does not make forward looking statements of this kind (1 billion iTunes accounts to start a payment system).

They are very nebulous about their future plans, more so than any other major consumer electronics company. Heck, they sandbag quarterly revenue guidance by offering numbers with a 3 billion dollar window.

You took the blogger's concoction hook, line, and sinker.

In any case, from a consumer marketing perspective, a billion iTunes accounts doesn't make a different. The mobile payment system would initial only work for people who have the iPhone (which is far less than a billion people) and most likely it would be for people with the new handset.

Moreover, a mobile payment system is only appealing to a specific individual if it fits into their spending patterns. This is why NTT DoCoMo hit a 2005 home run with their "osaifu keitai" in Japan: because they got their mobile payment system to work with the most popular transit payment card (Mobile Suica) in the nation (covers Tokyo's subways & metro Tokyo commuter rail lines, JR East).

The iTunes accounts are more interesting as business development fodder to convince merchants to partner with Apple. That's because Apple iPhone owners are in a more desirable demographic (more college educated, higher income, etc.). We see this time and time again in Apple App store versus Google Play store statistics, revenue per device, etc. as well as online shopping statistics.

The Yahoo article is not what I had read. I did find the Q1 transcripts(you linked to Q2) and the information in the Q&A surrounding mobile payments did appear familiar to me as the blogger was reporting it. Since it was not in the transcripts, I can only assume the blogger was trying to leak(or create a rumor) that Apple will launch a mobile payments system at 1 billion iTunes accounts (the statement was made in one simple sentence.)

From a marketing perspective, launching a mobile payment system at 1 billion iTunes accounts is better than launching at 900 million accounts.

Either way, it appears they injected their reporting with their own false perspective.

Apple does not make forward looking statements of this kind (1 billion iTunes accounts to start a payment system).

They are very nebulous about their future plans, more so than any other major consumer electronics company. Heck, they sandbag quarterly revenue guidance by offering numbers with a 3 billion dollar window.

You took the blogger's concoction hook, line, and sinker.

Maybe, unless it was an intended leak, meaning not a false rumor. To be honest, I don't follow how Apple announces things but launching at 1 billion accounts has more impact than launching at 900 million accounts. The blogger's assertion does appear to be reasonable.

Macy's is already in the bag so Nordstrom will follow suit.
All the big luxury hotels will have it.
All the big sports arenas will have it.
All the big franchises will have it.
All the airports, the museums, the shopping malls etc...

The best part is that it will rollout globally.

iBeacon will be used in ways that we can't even imagine.Edited by AppleSauce007 - 9/2/14 at 6:49pm

Either way, it appears they injected their reporting with their own false perspective.

Or maybe Apple gave them the goods since everyone is already expecting a mobile payments system in the future. I find it hard to treat 1 billion accounts a false perspective over launching at 900 million accounts. To each their own.

Maybe, unless it was an intended leak, meaning not a false rumor. To be honest, I don't follow how Apple announces things but launching at 1 billion accounts has more impact than launching at 900 million accounts. The blogger's assertion does appear to be reasonable.

Again, there aren't 1 billion iPhone users.

Plus, one can create an iTunes account with no money. You are not required to have a credit card to set one up. A billion iTunes accounts does not equal a billion mobile payment system users.

More interesting is the number of iTunes accounts with linked credit cards, the revenue for those particular accounts and cardholder demographics. That's probably highly confidential information.

The blogger's assertion does not address any of those factors.

Do I have a credit card linked to my iTunes account? Sure. When was the last time an iTunes/App Store charge hit that credit card? I forget, over three years ago at least. I fund my iTunes account with discounted iTunes gift cards (I usually wait for 25% or 30% discounted cards). That's the smart way to fund iTunes/App Store purchases.

Maybe, unless it was an intended leak, meaning not a false rumor. To be honest, I don't follow how Apple announces things but launching at 1 billion accounts has more impact than launching at 900 million accounts. The blogger's assertion does appear to be reasonable.

It has more impact because it's more in a market where more equals better, but in no way does it make since that having 900,000,000 iTunes accounts means they'll not put NFC, SW, and build a complex support structure for mobile payments, but at 1,000,000,000 they will. It also doesn't make sense that no one else heard or reported on this when you claim this was clearly stated in a quarterly earnings call from the world biggest and most secretive company in the world.

This bot has been removed from circulation due to a malfunctioning morality chip.

First of all, you said January. This story is from April. Second, they are speculating about something that Tim never explicitly said. In other words, they don't know and they are making things up.

The Yahoo article is not what I had read. I did find the Q1 transcripts(you linked to Q2) and the information in the Q&A surrounding mobile payments did appear familiar to me as the blogger was reporting it. Since it was not in the transcripts, I can only assume the blogger was trying to leak(or create a rumor) that Apple will launch a mobile payments system at 1 billion iTunes accounts (the statement was made in one simple sentence.)

From a marketing perspective, launching a mobile payment system at 1 billion iTunes accounts is better than launching at 900 million accounts.

When you're in a hole, stop digging.

Tim Cook is gay, believes in climate change, and cares deeply about racial equality. Deal with it (and please spare us if you can't).

It has more impact because it's more in a market where more equals better, but in no way does it make since that having 900,000,000 iTunes accounts means they'll not put NFC, SW, and build a complex support structure for mobile payments, but at 1,000,000,000 they will. It also doesn't make sense that no one else heard or reported on this when you claim this was clearly stated in a quarterly earnings call from the world biggest and most secretive company in the world.

I've already stated the information was reported by a blogger and not found in the transcripts.

Hmmm. So maybe that "mystery building" outside Flint Center in Cupertino is a pop-up Nordstroms. Or Walgreen's. Or Starbucks. Or all three. And tech journalists will be the first to wave their (demo) iPhones to (pretend to) buy things on September 9th.

I was hoping it was a HomeKit demonstration, with a mocked-up house. But I think an Apple contactless payment system will have far more impact on the general public. Home automation has been around for decades, and it's just not all that exciting. Contactless payment is revolutionary (in the US anyway.)

Hmmm. So maybe that "mystery building" outside Flint Center in Cupertino is a pop-up Nordstroms. Or Walgreen's. Or Starbucks. Or all three. And tech journalists will be the first to wave their (demo) iPhones to (pretend to) buy things on September 9th.

To me that seems too kitschy for Apple.

This bot has been removed from circulation due to a malfunctioning morality chip.